Concept Review Sheet - Chapters 1 and 2

Solar Energy, Biodiversity, Chemical or Nutrient Cycling

sun warms the planet, gives plants nutrients, + therefore gives animals the plant nutrients they need, etc.

the variety of genes, species, ecosystems, and ecosystem processes. Provides ways for species to adapt + prevents them from getting too large.

the circulation of chemicals or nutrients needed to sustain life in the environment (mostly from water and soil) through various organisms and back to the environment. We recieve energy constantly from the sun, but nothing new is produced chemically, so it must be cycled.

a situation in which individuals with access to a public resource (also called a common) act in their own interest and, in doing so, ultimately deplete the resource

Full-Cost Pricing (Economics), Win-win solutions (politics), Responsibility (Ethics)

includes the harmful environmental and health costs of producing and using goods and services in their market prices.

political scientists look for compromises that will benefit the largest amount of people and the environment

it is our responsibility a people to treat the planet in ways that will leave it healthy for future generations.

this variable does not depend on that of another.

this variable relies on the independent variable.

something used as a standard of comparison for checking the results of an experiment – EX : A control in this experiment would be a plant that was left out in the sun, under normal conditions, so that you know how much a regular plant would be expected to grow.

values that should not change either during or between experiments EX : Many natural forces and properties, such as the speed of light and the atomic weight of gold, are experimental constants.

an assumption, an idea that is proposed for the sake of argument so that it can be tested to see if it might be true

the number of participants or observations included in a study

No energy is created or destroyed

We end up with the lower quality or less-usable energy than we started with

Set of components that interact in a regular way Ex: human body, a cell, a TV set, and an economy

whatever you put into a system. For example, the body’s circulatory system requires energy from food and oxygen from breathing in order to work. Those are the inputs.

the volume of work or information flowing through a system

whatever comes out of a system

causes system to change further in the same direction

causes system to change in opposite directions. think - homeostasis EX : Blood sugar regulation (insulin lowers blood glucose when levels are high ;

Natural system stuck in positive feedback loop can reach this point Beyond this point, system changes so drastically that it suffers from severe degradation or collapse.